STEVEN GERRARD was sent off as Liverpool were beaten at Anfield this afternoon.Gerrard, a hero for England this week, scored for the Reds but goals from Dion Dublin, Lee Hendrie and Darius Vassell settled it.

Gerrard saw red in the second half after a high tackle, leaving Liverpool with an uphill struggle.

After his world class goal-scoring exploits with England over the last seven days, the in-form Michael Owen was rested by Gerard Houllier and started the game on the substitutes' bench.

Robbie Fowler and Emile Heskey - who along with Steven Gerrard also scored while on international duty with England - led the Liverpool attack.

Polish international goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek was handed his Anfield debut after completing his #4.9 million move from Feyenoord last weekend, with Pegguy Arphexad on the bench ahead of the injured Chris Kirkland. There was no place for Sander Westerveld who watched the game from the stands.

Nick Barmby was preferred on the left of midfield to Danny Murphy and there was no place in the squad of 16 for Finnish striker Jari Litmanen.

Former Reds defender Steve Staunton was on the Aston Villa bench alongside David Ginola while ex-Manchester United keeper Peter Schmeichel made his first appearance at Anfield for two years.

The Danish goalkeeper remained as popular as ever on Merseyside and his every touch in the opening 15 minutes was met by a chorus of boos from Liverpool supporters.

Chances were few and far between in the opening stages and the closest the Reds came to opening the scoring was in the fourth minute after Emile Heskey flicked on a Carragher free-kick. The ball fell to Robbie Fowler but his effort was charged down and Olof Mellburg cleared the danger before Heskey could pounce.

Gerrard tried his luck form the edge of the box in the 10th minute after good work from Barmby but his left-footed strike flew over the crossbar.

Nick Barmby had made a lively start and his good work gave McAllister an opportunity on the edge of the box but his shot was comfortably saved by Schmeichel.

Jamie Carragher seemed to be more at home on the right-hand side of defence and provided the Reds with an extra attacking option. His cross in the 17th minute was met by Barmby at the far post but the England midfielder's header was held by Schmeichel.

McAllister was fortunate not to be booked moments later for a late challenge on Boateng but referee D'Urso decided it wasn't even worthy of a free-kick.

The visitors were beginning to take charge of the game and their first real chance of note came in the 22nd minute when Alan Wright slipped the ball through for Darius Vassell but he blasted his left-footed effort over.

At the other end, Fowler had claims for a penalty turned down after his shot was blocked by Mellburg in the box, but the referee ruled the Swede hadn't used his arm despite claims from the Liverpool striker.

On the half hour mark, Nick Barmby was booked for a foul on Mark Delaney and the resultant free-kick led to Villa's opening goal. Merson chipped the ball in and DION DUBLIN headed past Dudek.

Liverpool didn't remotely look like equalising in the final 15 minutes of an increasingly dull first half.

Carragher was booked in the 40th minute for taking a nip at Schmeichel's ankles, although the big Dane collapsed to the turf like he had been picked off by a sniper in the Anfield crowd.

Merson almost added a second moments later but his long range effort went well wide while Kachloul was fortunate not to be shown the yellow card before the first half was over.

Half time: Liverpool 0 Aston Villa 1.

The Reds were level within a minute of the second half.Gerrard rose to meet McAllister's corner at the far post and although the ball was cleared by Alpay the linesman ruled it had crossed the line first and Liverpool were level.

The Kop were now fully behind the team and the Reds began to drive forward with some purpose. Mellburg was booked for a late lunge on Heskey as he powered through the defence but the resultant free-kick from Gerrard was comfortably saved by Schmeichel.

As the Reds continued to press with Gerrard becoming increasingly influential, they were hit by a sucker punch from Villa.

Referee D'Urso awarded a harsh free-kick against Hamann which was floated into the box and landed at the feet of Dublin. He mis-kicked the ball but it fell to HENDRIE who fired home to give John Gregory's side the lead again.

MICHAEL OWEN'S absence from the Liverpool line-up was the biggest talking point.Owen was in the form of his life, after scoring four times for England in the past seven days.

But he was rested with the Boavista game in mind.The crowd watched expectantly to see if Robbie Fowler could justify Gerard Houllier's faith in him. For most of the game, he didn't.

Owen did make a difference when he came on. But resting a player at the peak of his form was sure to be a hot topic.